National City Informative - Overdraft fee my eye, this is stealing! - Checking overdrafts

Posted by moneybags on 2007-10-24:

Open a new account in another bank or CU

Posted by JohnInSoCal on 2007-10-24:

If you are overdrawn by 25 cents it might as well have been $25. The bottom line is you were overdrawn. Overdraft fees are charged by the bank no matter how little you are overdrawn. Banks are obligated to disclose the fees that are charged and how they are applied. You can try a credit union. They are sometimes more flexible and a little more forgiving when it comes to small overdrafts if you don't make it a habit.

Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2007-10-25:

Most banks are now handling charges this way - when several checks arrive at the same time they pay the largest checks first, their reasoning being that larger checks are usually for more important things, rent, utilities, car payments, etc. I know it's tough, but you need to put a buffer in there that you never drop below - even if it's $20, it will keep you out of trouble. Just don't show it on your check register - pretent like it's not there. When your check register shows zero, you will still have your $20 buffer in place. $20 now saves you $34 charges down the road.

Posted by Stew.old on 2007-10-25:

"their reasoning being that larger checks are usually for more important things" -- Hugh that is what they say but come on any reasonable person can see that line for the pile of dog poop it is. They sequence them that way for no other reason than to rack up the most overdraft charges possible.

Hugh, you surprise me my friend. You never have a problem calling BS on the a reviewer I'm shocked that you are so easily hoodwinked by the banks.

Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2007-10-25:

If you have enough in your account it shouldn't matter in which order they come in.

Posted by memoryx57 on 2007-10-25:

I agree 100% with Stew..We all know that we should always keep enough money in our accounts to cover everything. But you know, sometimes that just doesn't happen. For whatever reason..Every one of us make errors. I don't have a problem with a REASONABLE fee...But 30 plus dollars is stealing...plain and simple...The banks say they post them in the order that they do to "help" the customer. That is nothing but BS !!Like they really care if my mortgage gets paid or not..They do it the way they do it simply to generate income off people who can least afford it..It's real easy to say "it doesn't matter" in which order checks are posted....but ask the person who was on their last dollar and got hit with a $39 fee because of a 25 cent overdraft. You might just be suprised at the answer!!!

Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2007-10-25:

Stew, I'm just reporting what the banks have claimed their reasoning to be - I didn't say I bought their story.

Posted by Lidman on 2007-10-25:

I must agree with memoryx57 and Stew the only thing I could add is to TheirStealing that they do this to everyone they can and once it start that's it they don't stop because they are in business to steal as much as they can as long as they can. The banks took $17 BILLION last year alone in overdraft fees. The only thing to do is change to another bank before they bleed you dry and get a new start. Good Luck

Posted by justcuz3993 on 2007-10-25:

I know this sounds cold hearted, but the bottom line is that it shouldn't matter what order the bank processes checks, if there is enough $ in your account, you won't have NSF fees. I like HJ's suggestion to keep a buffer in there and don't include it in your balance, that way you always have a little backup $ in case you run into this problem. Another suggestion is to always round your checks up to the next whole dollar amount when you write them down in your check register. For ex, if you write a check for $24.26, write it in your register as $25.00. You'd be surprised how much "extra" money you have at the end of the month/year by doing this.

Posted by Leela on 2007-10-25:

Justcuz, that's an excellent suggestion, with what you write in your check register. My dad does the same thing.

Posted by Stew.old on 2007-10-25:

justcuz -- What if your were traveling through some small town going 5 miles over a vaguely posted speed limit that resulted in you getting a ticket for $10,000. Would you then say bottom line - I was speeding therefore I deserve whatever?

Posted by justcuz3993 on 2007-10-25:

stew - your question is irrelevant - how is a speed limit vaguely posted? If I am speeding and wasn't paying attention to the posted signs, then yes, the bottom line is that I am responsible.

Posted by memoryx57 on 2007-10-25:

justcuz...I think the point Stew is making, that you're apparently missing is " have the punishment fit the crime " I don't think anyone is saying that it's ok to overdraft your bank account. Let me pose Stew's question a bit different. Let's say you get a citation for going 5 miles over the speed limit, how much of a fine would you reasonably expect to pay for "your crime"? Would $10 be ok, or maybe $100. Or how about $10,000..??? Your WERE speeding, right?

Posted by justcuz3993 on 2007-10-25:

memoryx57, I understood stew's question and I still say it is irrelevant.

Posted by Stew.old on 2007-10-25:

"how is a speed limit vaguely posted" - I take it you've never driven US66 through Luther Oklahoma where the speed limit drops from 65 to 45 on a 1/4 mile stretch of road and the only indication is a speed limit sign conspicuously close to a full elm tree. Anyway my point was very relevant as are all my points. Getting hit with a $34 dollar fee for 25 cent overdraft would be akin to getting a $10,000 dollar ticket for going five miles over the speed limit. Nobody would question the fault but the penalty is excessive. To me I can't understand how any sane person can justify the modern day banking policies but my sanity has been legally question before so I may just be nuts.

Posted by justcuz3993 on 2007-10-25:

thanks for the debate stew, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I never said that banks aren't out to make money on those that incur overdrafts, I just said that if a person always keeps more in then what is going out, NSF fees won't be a problem. Seems pretty simple to me, so maybe I am the one that is nuts.

Posted by Stew.old on 2007-10-25:

Justcuz – of course you are correct... "if a person always keeps more in then what is going out, NSF fees won't be a problem"... also true is those getting hit with the fees are probably the ones who can least afford it. There's zero chance of me bouncing a check anytime in the near future partly due to nothing more than the advantages I had at birth.. (LIBERAL GUILT ALERT) It seems so unfair to pick on the least among us. When I see the less fortunate being taken advantage of it makes me sick. Heck, I was always the kid on the playground defending the weaker kids from the bullies. It's just my nature. I also see a bigger picture here. I'd imagine the demographics of who's getting socked with these fees are poorer people with children. That $39 wouldn't mean snot to me but it probably causes hardships to the families and children. (CHILDREN .. MY GOD WOULD SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN). The fact the account hit zero balance tells you the $39 dollars would probably been spent locally helping the local economy, fattening the local tax roles instead of being harvested away into another state or these days another country. That's my view of things.

Posted by sickofthesetwits on 2007-11-11:

I'm sorry about your rough experience with that bank. So long as you don't have a history of overdrafts, most bank managers will waive the overdraft fee as a one-time courtesy. You do have to go to the branch where you opened your account, or where you currently regularly transact business, and speak with a manager; don't try to resolve this through e-mail or their call center - those reps don't have the authority. As I said - so long as this is a first-time or "once in a blue moon" occurrence, they'll help you out.

Take care.

Posted by TiensToi on 2008-02-21:

National City deceives it's customers. There must be something unethical about that. I just recently noticed three overdraft charges on my account. I didn't know where they came from. I had pending transactions but with a positive balance beside them. I thought that perhaps I'd somehow missed some checks. Nope! I received a letter days later charging me $34 for each of the pending items - over $100 that day alone! I looked at the account statement, and it also did not show that the account was overdrawn. I had a positive balance before and after the transactions processed AND the overdraft fees were incurred.

Does anyone know of a class action lawsuit related to these unethical fees? If so, please post it for the rest of us to see! We need to stop this deception once and for all!

Posted by Karlyb on 2008-09-05:

If there is a class action lawsuit out there for unethical fees charged by National City-let me know!

Posted by joe76 on 2008-11-14:

Its stealing for whatever reason. No one wants to be punished 3 times for a simple mistake that too with $34 each time. Its hard when you actually experince it, trust me it is not only about money. I had two wire transfers on one day. Knowing this I personally visited the branch and depositted a check worth much more than that amount. Smartly they put a hold on my check until next day in order to make me to pay over draft 3 times, one for 3 cents. They debitted the largest amout first so that next all transactions on the same day comes with their special ($102). More over it looks like many employees are not happy with the bank either. May be due to not secured jobs or pay reductions. Time to think about other banks.